Chair backs have traditionally included components such as wood or metal supports, some form of padded composite, and upholstery, so as to form a chair back that then provides support as well as a pleasing look. Typically a chair back has included a support frame that can be a rigid panel, followed by padding or stuffing that is then covered by fabric. The fabric can be positioned and secured a number of ways to support the frame. The support frame defines the shape of the chair back and can be a wide variety of shapes. The shape of the chair back however has to be sufficient so that there is sufficient support in the middle of the chair back for the user to lean against. The top of the chair back can be narrower or wider than the middle of the chair, but traditionally the bottom portion of the chair is the same width as the middle portion of the chair back.
The usual assembly of the chair back requires the fabric to be pulled over the padding or stuffing like a sleeve, pocket or soc that is shaped to the general shape of the chair back and is open at one end, usually the bottom end. Therefore the sleeve opening is fit over the top end of the chair back and then pulled down over the middle portion of the chair back to the bottom portion. The open end of the sleeve is then closed by stapling or fastening the ends of the sleeve to the bottom portion of the chair. This is usually facilitated by having a piece of wood mounted to the bottom of the chair back so that stapling of the fabric can be done fairly expeditiously. As such, there are limitations as to the shape of the bottom portion of the chair back so as to avoid either having excess material at the bottom portion of the chair or not being able to fit the sleeve over the middle portion of the chair back if the bottom portion was smaller or narrower than the middle portion.
Prior art chair backs have been devised to address some of the aforenoted problems of attaching fabric to a support frame for a chair. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,097 issued on Sep. 19, 2000 to Perry et al. and relates to a flexible chair which includes a seat frame having a bidirectional fabric stretched over the seat frame to define seat back and seat bottom portions. The seat frame is supported on an upper axis and a lower axis by a flexible frame. The fabric cover 116 is preferably a single piece of bidirectional mesh fabric, such as high density two-way stretch woven cloth. The fabric may be cut to appropriate size, then the seat frame 110 inserted as components into openings or pockets provided in the sewn fabric pattern and completed as described below. Alternatively, the fabric may be stretched over the completed seat frame and heated to shrink the fabric to the frame using well known techniques. Referring to FIG. 5, the seat frame 110 is preferably constructed by assembling front section 111, mid-sections 112L and 112R, and top section 114, after insertion of these sections into pockets sewn into the fabric cover. These sections are preferably five-eighths inch steel tube 101, formed or bent to shape. As shown in FIG. 6A, front section 111 preferably includes a support bar 111a attached to the middle of section 111, for example, by weldment, to provide additional support against sagging of the fabric cover 116. Support bar 111a can be a smaller diameter steel, for example, three-eighths inch. As shown in FIG. 6B, each section of tube 101 is inserted into a corresponding pocket 102 formed in the fabric cover 116A, for example, by wrapping the fabric and sewing on seam 103, as shown. The location of seam 103 is left to design preference, but if left out from the end about five or six inches, then pockets are formed which are suitable to accommodate foam inserts, or support bar 111a. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,126 which issued on Feb. 28, 1995 to Boulva and relates to a composite support frame structure for the construction of a seat. The support structure comprises a rigid continuous rod-like frame formed in a closed loop and having opposed diverging rod-like side members which lie in a common plane and opposed rod-like end members formed integral with the side members. At least one of the end members is arced outwardly. A belt of substantially non-extensible material forms a slightly truncated sleeve, narrower that the frame, to apply a compression force between the side members and to flex the arced end member. The sleeve is retained in tension about the opposed diverging rod-like side members by restoring spring force between the side members exerted by the arced end member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,365 which issued on Oct. 28, 1980 to and relates to Messinger an article of furniture, and a method for making same, the furniture comprising a self-supporting peripheral frame, having an open central region, and a fabric sleeve, covering said peripheral frame and providing a body support surface. The peripheral frame, which comprises two side rail members and a plurality of braces connecting the rail members, defines a body contour. The fabric sleeve may be impregnated with a resinous material, thereby providing a substantially rigid body support surface, or padding may be disposed between the fabric sleeve and the peripheral frame, thereby providing a softer body support surface. The fabric sleeve may be a one-piece, two-way stretch member, such as different types of knitted materials or a non-stretch member of different types of woven materials. The article of furniture may be formed as a chair, a lounger or recliner or a foot rest. The articles of furniture are easily shaped in keeping with the requirements of the human body by stretching the fabric over a designed contour, thereby providing an inexpensive means for producing customized furniture on a large scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,509 which issued on Jan. 21, 2003 to Peterson and relates to a seating unit illustrated as a mobile office chair includes a base, a back upright operably supported on the base for reclining movement and a back construction. The back construction includes a cushion assembly attached to a back support shell with quick-attach top and bottom connectors. Specifically, the back support shell includes top apertures, and the cushion assembly includes hooks for drop-in attachment to the top apertures. The back support shell also includes a molded bottom section defining a recess, and the back cover includes a stiffened edge flange configured to frictionally engage the recess to retain the back cover to the back support. The cushion assembly includes a cover assembly with an upholstered front panel, and a rear panel formed by a first sheet section having a one-directional stretch in a vertical direction, and a second section having a high-stretch property.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,381 which issued on Nov. 12, 2002 to Cramb, III et al. and relates to a vehicle seat assembly is provided having a seat bottom and a seat back assembly connected to the seat bottom. The seat back assembly includes a support frame having a pair of opposing substantially vertical side frame members which receive an elastomeric support webbing. The elastomeric support webbing extends between the opposing substantially vertical side frame members to provide structural support for the passenger of a vehicle. Side bolsters are attached to the elastomeric support webbing about the opposing substantially vertical side frame members. A headrest or upper bolster is secured to the top of the frame of the seat assembly adjacent the side bolsters.
Prior art chair backs or support devices however do not address issues of attaching fabric to a support frame without fasteners, while applying the fabric to a variety of different shaped backs. More specifically prior art devices do not address the ability for attaching a fabric on to a chair back that is shaped identically at both the top and bottom of the chair back therefore not requiring that the bottom of the chair back be a place for the attachment of the fabric. Typically prior art devices can accommodate a chair back that may be narrow at the top but not at the bottom since the pocket of fabric would either not fit over the middle portion of the chair or the fabric would be able to fit over the middle portion of the chair but sag around a narrow bottom portion. Thus a mesh chair back having a frame and a removable sleeve that can accommodate different shaped backs and is held in place on the chair frame via the tension within the knitted sock and the structure of the chair frame and not requiring fasteners which is desirable.